Lesson study helps teachers use collaborative peer insight and feedback about student responses to instruction to develop high quality lessons. Combining lesson study with collaborative action research, Ohio middle school teachers developed exemplar lessons in the four-column writing method and found that the method significantly improved…

A study of 38 fifth-grade students investigated the effectiveness of two interactive multimedia instructional spelling programs, one offering behaviorist-visual learning options and the other offering cognitivist-phonological learning options. Both groups showed increased spelling ability, though neither program outperformed the other, suggesting…

Presents observations of a principal, a teacher, and a fifth-grade student at a Baltimore (Maryland) elementary school about how the Core Knowledge Curriculum (CKC) successfully works in their school. All three reveal the success of CKC in creating student interest and parent involvement. (GR)

Maintains that philosophical aesthetics must be an integral part of art education. Examines existing methods and materials for teaching philosophy to children from the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children (New Jersey). Describes a sample unit showing philosophical aesthetics in action in a fifth grade class. (KM)

Examines fifth- and sixth-grade students' metacognitive knowledge about the processes of writing narrative and expository texts. Finds that creating a communicative context enhances students' awareness of audience and purpose, as well as their understanding of different aspects of the writing process. (MG)

A study involving 110 fifth- and sixth-graders (51 male and 59 female), classified as low or high in effort orientation, assessed the effects of task- versus performance-oriented instructions on a computer-assisted test programed to ensure that all examinees failed to solve all problems. Problem-solving strategy analyses were preformed. (TJH)

Describes an art project that relates a fifth grade arithmetic lesson with a drawing assignment. Students first learned to enlarge a drawing on a grid, and then were given a segment of a cut-up reproduction of a Picasso painting and asked to enlarge and duplicate their portion. Completed pieces were combined for the final product. (LS)

Examines the effect of a variety of picture-text conditions on third and fifth grade average readers' comprehension. Concludes that the advantage of presenting children of normal reading ability with illustrated text is small and primarily dependent on the placement of illustrations adjacent to related textual materials. (RS)

Describes the experiences of one public elementary school's American Council on Learned Societies team of six fifth-grade teachers and a librarian. Composed of diverse, seasoned teachers, the team supported an already established system in developing curriculum for teaching about ancient Middle Eastern civilization. The paper describes the teaming…

Presents a sequence of hands-on activities to help students understand the concept of arithmetic mean and gain experience in using mathematical models. Students create models in the process of solving problems and communicate to the class the meaning attached to the models. (MDH)

Presents observations about the influence of mathematics textbooks and suggests ways to use textbooks to advantage while reordering the sequence and emphasis of topics to allow time for alternative activities. The fifth-grade mathematics curriculum is examined as an example. (MKR)

Discusses the Project 2061 benchmarks, statements of what all students should know or be able to do in science, mathematics, and technology by the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12. (MKR)

Discusses an approach to parent-teacher conferences that involves fifth graders as equal partners with their parents and teacher. Students update their portfolios for the student-parent-teacher conferences, ask and answer questions about their achievements, and discuss their work with their parents. Parents are expected to answer questions about…

Assessed first- and fifth-grade teachers' perceptions of student retention. Found an unwritten policy among teachers advocating retention of students as beneficial. Respondents believed that retention improved academic performance or facilitated student growth and increased learning success. Results suggest a serious gap between research…

A controlled, parent-targeted intervention followed two cohorts of students (1,034 fifth graders and 1,244 seventh graders) to determine the effects of encouraging parents to intervene in risk factors for adolescent tobacco and alcohol use. Such programs should focus on protective factors rather than on control of risk factors. (SLD)